A slower burn than I expected for a sports but I loved these characters coming into their own. I’ll be returning to this title for comfort re-reading for sure.

Okay, so I was given a copy of this as an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review etc etc etc, you know the drill.

Look, I am a fan of hockey. I am a fan of romance novels. I am queer as hell. You would think that the combination of these three things would mean that I would read a heck of a lot more gay hockey romances than I actually do - but see, I'm also unbelievably picky.

Does the author make careless mistakes about how professional hockey leagues work? If so, I'm out. Is there an uncomplicated love story that never addresses homophobia and how the league has no openly queer players? If so, I'm out (note: it's not that I don't like a happy ending, but I need it to have at least one toe in reality for me to be able to enjoy it without rolling my eyes so hard they fall out of my face.) Are the characters entirely too woke/liberal/educated/enlightened to be believable? If so...yeah, you get the idea. Like I said, I'm picky as fuck and absolutely not afraid to stop reading a book less than a chapter in.

This book? This book is a goddamn unicorn. It's a sweet, believable, adorable slow burn romance that just weaves its way in and out of all the issues that hockey as a sport and culture have and still manages to have a happy ending that feels like it's solidly grounded in reality and possibility. The characters are just. Like. My hockey tag on tumblr is "but mother, I love them" and I feel strongly like that applies here too - I fucking *adore* Benji and Olly and more than once had to put my kindle down to breathe through how happy they made me. Like, I actively walked away from this book several times because it was just too good to finish too quickly. The supporting cast is *great* (I mean, who doesn't love a Quebecois goalie with attitude?) and the romance proceeds along at exactly the pace that I most enjoy, where the characters are allowed to actually grow together and fall in love over time.

There are a couple of things that made me squint with regards to contracts and timelines and the way that the leagues feed into each other, but fortunately the author hasn't set this book in the NHL of the real world (I assume because of copyright nonsense), and I could easily handwave that the NAHA doesn't have the same issue bullshit predatory RFA contract issues that the NHL does. Certainly it was nothing that made me do more than blink a couple of times, and none of it ruined my enjoyment of the book in any way.

Anyway, yes, five stars. Very much five stars. I'm definitely glad I didn't have to wait for my preorder to come in to read this one, but now I'm stuck waiting for her next book when the first one hasn't even actually been released! Sigh.....maybe if I shake the internet it'll appear faster?

This was beautiful. I can't believe I've read another very angst-y, very "what do I do with my life now that this emotional-as-hell ride is over" book for the second time in a row. I feel like I've been run over by a truckload of feels.

I really loved this book. It was a highly emotional, angst-ridden, but also jam-packed with sweet, hopeful feelings and a romance that was both beautifully constructed and frustrating at the same time. This hockey romance is the quintessential slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance: Olly and Benji are both rising hockey stars in the same team and they end up getting paired off to live in the same apartment. Olly is closeted, grumpy, broken and rapidly spiraling out of curiosity control; Benji is the typical sunshiny jock with a huge smile and a huge heart, only apparently more put together than his roommate. The forced proximity and Benji's protective streak rapidly turns their acquaintance into a full-blown bromance, and then, well. They both catch feelings. And catching feelings in a sport where homophobia is still rampant, can be dangerous.

This was a truly fantastic book: a bit slow and a bit frustrating at times, since neither Olly nor Benji are good at talking about the things that matter without it turning into a fight or miscommunication, but nevertheless it was so so good. Their romance was amazingly done, the slow-burn so slow you'll miss it until you suddenly get hit in the chest with angst and yearning and lovey-dovey feelings. There was, admittedly, a lot of hockey talk, but I still managed to follow the story easily, and when the sports lingo got too much, it wasn't a huge issue to overcome.
Both Olly and Benji are fantastic protagonists: I loved how different they were and how well they fit together, first as friends, then as lovers. I absolutely loved that Benji had such a low-key protective, and a bit possessive, streak: he's always worrying about Olly, always trying to make him laugh and smile and I loved how clueless he was about what he was feeling for a good chunk of the book. It was endearing as hell. If Benji was the put together one, Olly was a hot mess, at least at the beginning: the way he was spiraling out of control, his past and his trauma with his previous team, his desperate need for somebody to throw him a lifeline, was gut-wrenching and made me want to hug him and keep him safe from the world. I loved his quiet, reserved side and his more reckless, snarky and out-of-control side too. Both of the MCs together were wonderful. And the side characters? Absolutely priceless. I have a huge crush on Poiro and I kind of wished we got to have his story too, sigh, but alas: he's a fantastic character, so funny and dramatic and assholish, with his own protective streak. All of the team was fantastic and I already miss reading about them, their wonderful camaraderie.

The writing was phenomenal: I was sucked into the story and I only managed to emerge from it when I finally finished the book. I'm not sure what the author has planned next, another story about this hockey team or something different, but I'll be waiting with bated breath: I can't wait to read more.

DNF at 20%. I feel like nothing was happening and the characters were blending together and no progress was being made with the story. I could T focus on the plot because with was T going anywhere

4 stars.

Very slow burn! One of the heroes doesn’t even really acknowledge that he likes guys until VERY far into the book. I wish that had been processed a little earlier in the book, so that they would have more time together to explore what their relationship actually looks like. As is, the ending feels very HFN, while the middle chunk dragged a touch.

Overall, I really liked the dynamic between our two heroes! I liked the writing and the world and the side characters — I could actually keep all the teammates straight in my head, unlike in a lot of hockey books!

Off topic but I don’t appreciate the slander of my beloved Minnesota hockey team. They’re very much the big bad homophobic bogeymen of this novel. (Did find it hilarious they were called the Minnesota Timber Wolves when the Timberwolves are the actual basketball team.)

3/5🔥 (multiple scenes but all pretty brief)

Contains: both hockey players, rookie+recently traded player, roommates, friends to lovers, hookups, sexual identity exploration, closeted hero, found family, complex extended family dynamics, mental health issues, therapy/medication

CW: anxiety/panic attacks; homophobia/slurs; side character remains in abusive relationship throughout whole book

Thank you to the author for providing this eARC, won in a Twitter giveaway (via NetGalley). This review was left voluntarily.

I LOVED this book. It's a pretty lengthy read and I devoured it in 24 hours. Slow burn, roommates, just enough angst to keep it interesting. Will definitely be adding this to my collection when it comes out. Thanks for the ARC!

This was just fantastic. Really well- and lovingly drawn characters, a near perfect amount of hockey, emotional work that felt really authentic and realistic, and just, phenomenally strong writing. I laughed a lot while reading this and also cried like, three times and, as is frankly always most important in a romance, swooned early and often. I love the secondary characters here, so much, especially the team, but also Olly's siblings and the wives and girlfriends who make brief appearances and still manage to feel like whole people. I love Olly, but Benji is the star of the show for me here -- a big dopey big-hearted guy? My favorite? Who could guess! -- and I don't think I've loved a romantic lead so much in a long, long while, maybe not since Lane in Avon Gale's Breakaway.

I stayed up until two am to finish this one and over the course of reading it sent my wife thirty different screenshots of things I wanted to yell about to her and I really can't offer any higher praise than that.

Thanks to Carina for the ARC!

A deeply emotionally satisfying slow burn between two hockey teammates! Olly and Benji are new teammates, roommates, and friends both working through personal problems. Olly has been run out of his previous team after his roommate found out that he's gay, while Benji is adjusting to finally playing in the NAHA (the NHL) and feeling worthy of his opportunities. Both men have no expectations of a friendship, let alone a relationship, but as they rely on each other more and more, their feelings grow. But Olly fears being rejected again and Benji has never taken anything other than hockey very seriously. It's a romance novel, so we know that there's going to be a happy ending, but the journey to their happy every after is full of tension and emotions as Olly and Benji fall in love.
I really enjoyed this book, especially the emphasis on mental health. I particularly enjoyed how the relationship was not the cure for all of their personal problems. Both men used outside resources and help in order to become healthier. I also enjoyed how not every plot point was wrapped up by the end of the book, which I found to be realistic. Benji's relationship with his sister is a point of conflict throughout the book, and I thought it was realistic that the relationship was not fixed by the book's conclusion.
I'll be anticipating more books by this author!

This is a great M/M sports romance, with detailed descriptions of pro hockey games and players, and two heroes who are easy to root for and simply love. Olly is gay and extremely closeted after bad experiences in his past. Benjy is a rookie with a disadvantaged childhood, who with the help of surrogate families was able to turn hockey into his way out. Being both teammates and roommates, the two spend a lot of time together and begin to genuinely care for each other. But neither knows what to do with this slow-burning attraction that continues to grow. I am so hoping for more in this world from author Cait Nary.

Hockey romance is my favorite sub genre and this didn't disappoint. Olly is grumpy and Benji is all sunshine and its the perfect opposites attract situation.

The beginning of this was great. Olly is holding on to some demons from his previous team, so he's all emotionally messy, meanwhile Benji is the opposite of that. He's an open, yoga loving, therapy preaching rookie. Olly is haunted by his past when he's traded to a new team, and he's desperately trying to make this team work, unlike his last team. Benji has just gotten pulled up from a developmental team, and they're put together as roommates.

The romance develops over the whole book, superrr slowly, which I typically like, but at the half way point this kind of took a turn for me. They romance is three quarters of the way developed by about the middle of the book, and then it takes the entire second half for them to finally get together, and it drags on. I think the length of the book was fine, but I would have preferred for them to work through their demons more quickly, and then deal with the aftermath for longer.

It didn't feel like a true happily ever after, and they didn't really address any of the concerns that Olly had about a relationship. It just kind of... ends. Its not a bad ending, don't get me wrong, I would have just liked more of the happiness that it took so long to get to.

Season’s Change is the kind of romance novel you finish and all you want to do is start rereading it over again. In fact, that’s even pretty much what I went and did (not quite immediately, but it’s been on my mind for weeks and I am rereading it right now).

The story is a romance between two hockey players: Olly, a veteran (of 24, I hasten to add, for those of you, like me, who aren’t fans of age gaps) who joins the Washington Eagles after a bad time with his previous team, and Benji, a rookie in his first full NAHA season. They end up as flatmates, and the romance blossoms from there.

Firstly, probably my favourite thing about this book was the pacing. Specifically, in the progression of Olly and Benji’s relationship. Olly is, at first, understandably cautious and it takes a while for their friendship to fully develop. This, I think, illustrates exactly what I loved most about this book: everything that happens makes total sense in terms of how each individual has been previously characterised. Instead of the characters being made to fit a plot, they drive it. The friendship is slowburning because that’s how Olly is, the romance slower because Benji, loveable himbo that he is, takes a while to get up to speed. And you can see it in their individual responses at the climax too.

So really, it’s not only the pacing that I love here, but the character work too. I normally dislike third act break ups, unless they properly make sense based on how characterisations are established, and they did that here. I don’t know how to put into words how much I loved it here (not necessarily the break up itself, because that was pain, but the entire trajectory of the story. It was a properly good romance.

And, of course, I couldn’t write this review without mentioning just how much I loved Olly and Benji. There are some books where you have a favourite POV to read, there are some where you simply cannot choose which you love more because you love both equally. This book falls into the latter category. These are the kind of characters you stick with you well after you’ve put the book down (and picked it up again, and put it back down). And this is also helped by the background cast too. Not all of them are likeable, not all are always sympathetic, but they all leap off the page as much as the main two. (And make you very invested in seeing who next gets a book… I vote Coach.)

Finally, I also really appreciated the nuance with which Benji and his sister’s situation was dealt. On the one hand, Krista is clearly in a toxic relationship and Benji wants to support her getting out of it, on the other, she doesn’t think the same, leading to her relationship with Benji becoming quite toxic in itself. I think it was good to see the perspective that, although Benji may want to help, he can’t until she decides she wants it. Basically, I liked the complexity of the situation, and the way Benji learned to set himself boundaries when it came to it (although I would still love to see Krista getting out of that relationship in future books—but, again, it made sense in terms of her characterisation).

So, really, there wasn’t anything about this book I didn’t like. Perhaps the only issue here is that I read this so early that now I have to wait even longer for the second book. Oh well, I guess that’s what rereads are for.

A veteran hockey player and a rookie are assigned to be roommates when the season begins. They spend a lot of time together and while, at first, they may think they don't mesh because they are so different, they end up being good for one another.

Olly has faced a lot of pressure in his hockey life. His father has applied a lot of pressure to him, calling him out when he didn't understand that his son was struggling. Olly has a lot of weight on his broad shoulders. At the beginning of the book, he has come down square on the side of trying to push things down and hold himself together with sheer willpower. Turns out though, it doesn't work all that well.

I connected with both characters early in the book. The author did a great job of creating the each of the MCs. There’s also a well-developed set of supporting characters that round out the world in the book. I was caught up in the world of hockey, the stress, the intensity of everything and the weight on people’s shoulders.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to understand a lot about hockey to read this story. It’s more about the journey the two main characters are on. One of them is struggling to come to terms with the world in which he lives: how can he be himself when it’s caused him so much trouble in his past. The other is more accepting of how things play out in his life. He’s don’t a lot of personal work to deal with his issues and is much more centered. The two men are very different, but they fit together well in the story.

There’s a lot of growth in the characters, even the supporting characters. It’s always a pleasure to read a novel in which the characters grow and change naturally over the course of the story.

A great romance with complex and interesting characters.

I guess my rating for this book entirely depends on WHO book 2 is going to be about. And if it’s not a continuation with Olly and Benji…? I don’t think this ending gives enough ENDING because it just feels like there should be more. Like, we haven’t even had a chance to see Olly and Benji being actual boyfriends and this book just feels like the beginning of their relationship? I wouldn’t say this book ends in a HEA, but a HFN if you want something to call it. So. Yeah. I’m not entire happy about this book and the way it ended.

Let me back up.

I love the hockey in this book, I love the camaraderie between hockey teammates, and I think there are really sweet and tender moments between Olly and Benji that I ADORED. But where there are highs, there are some pretty low lows for me. What started as a book that was probably 5 stars for me just winded up floundering around the halfway mark and the story never fully recovered after that.

Content notes include depression, anxiety, panic attacks, homomisia, intense fear of coming out, mentions of abuse/bullying, mentions of emotionally abusive relationships, a secondary character staying in an emotionally abusive relationship throughout the entire book, and violence.

Although the series name is called Trade Deadline, nobody of note actually gets traded after the book starts? Oliver “Olly” Järvinen gets traded from the Minnesota Wolves to the Washington Eagles before the story begins and we first see him at training camp. He’s been playing hockey for a couple seasons now at 24 years old and had skipped college to go pro. He had an extremely bad time with the Wolves after his hockey roommate found out he’s gay, and he’s just going through a LOT. Olly is not in a good headspace when the book starts.

Then he gets paired up with his new roommate - 21-year-old defenseman and rookie on the Eagles, Benji Bryzinski. Benji is everything Olly is not. Or at least he appears to be. Benji just appears to be super pumped about…everything? He does yoga, drinks veggie smoothies, and openly talks about going to therapy. Olly is resistant to all of these things.

You could say Olly is the grumpy one, and Benji is the sunshine one in this relationship. But it also runs much deeper than that - like WHY is Olly so grumpy all the time, or after everything he’s been through, HOW does Benji manage to exude so much sunshine with everyone he meets.

One of the highlights for me in this book is the hockey. The hockey play here is quite immersive and there’s a LOT of hockey. I loved it but I feel like there’s going to be a lot of people who won’t. If I wasn’t familiar with watching and trying to learn the sport since I’ve been on a hockey romance kick, I think a lot of it will be confusing because nothing is really explained? There’s definitely a certain level of expectation here where you need to be familiar with hockey like the whole idea of farm teams, billet families, and just what everything MEANS. There’s no dictionary/glossary in this book (or at least no placeholders I can see with the arc). So, I can see folks more interested in the romance part of sport romance books to maybe not be so interested in all the hockey in this story? But I was LIVING for it.

I’ll get more into this in a bit, but this is also why when all the hockey suddenly comes to an end at the 75% mark, it felt abrupt and left me aimless and baffled that hockey suddenly disappeared from the story. It’s certainly not like we had a romance to prop up the last quarter of this book.

What’s weird, and took me awhile to realize, is this book is dealing entirely with a fictional pro hockey league called the NAHA rather than sticking to imagined teams in the existing NHL. The choice is more baffling when you realize the NFL teams in this book are actual NFL teams, so why not stick to the NHL? Who knows.

When I say the middle part of this book is where this story started to fall apart for me, it’s because of a totally unnecessary threesome. Like, I LOVE an enthusiastically consenting threesome, ménage, or polyam scene. But this was NOT.

Olly knows he’s gay and has zero interest in women. Benji doesn’t think he’s interested in men at all and has only been having sex with women throughout this entire book. Olly and Benji are at an event and they are both very drunk. And then Benji invites a woman to go back to their apartment with him and then the both of them hook a drunk Olly into a threesome. Olly is too drunk to properly beg off and when he realizes the full extent of what happened the night before he feels so bad he throws up and hides from Benji. Like??? How is this okay?? WHY was this scene even necessary??? Olly was already feeling awful and experiencing some pretty intense angst before this and THIS being the ~pushing~ point where Olly winds up telling his brothers he’s gay just leaves me feeling…ick.

For a book coming out in 2022, I though we were far past the point in m/m books with unnecessary, not fun m/f/m threesomes shoved in, BUT I GUESS NOT.

The story takes a major fumble here for me and never truly recovers. When we see the end of the hockey season, I DID like the vacationing the hockey guys did in Mexico. Just chilling and relaxing on the beach is fun. Olly and Benji starting to really feel their feels about each other was fun too.

This is a massively slow burn of a book. And I LIKE slow burns. But this story moves very, very, very sloooowly. I think there’s definitely a delicate balance in delivering a slow burn and knowing how much story is left to give the characters time to actually be together. But this book somehow completely misses that balance, in my opinion. We wind up with a much hated third act breakup, which winds up with a further delayed resolution of the guys getting back together. It just feels way too late. There’s no space in this book for Olly and Benji to truly be themselves, out with their teammates, and Olly not feeling so burdened by his fear of people finding out he’s gay. There’s no room to breathe a sigh of relief and just for us to be happy for Olly and Benji because then the book is OVER. No real epilogue either.

The only thing that can save this book for me is if the second book in this series is also about Olly and Benji. At the time I’m reading this arc (3 months from publication), there’s no news who book 2 will be about. Because if not Olly and Benji? What a waste. All that time for them to realize their feelings for each other and that’s it? This could have the beginnings of an epic love story and a series worth re-reading, but if book 2 isn’t with Olly and Benji navigating their new relationship, then this falls flat for me.

So far, there’s really no indication otherwise who else could be a candidate for book 2 if it’s not Olly and Benji. Everyone else seems to be giving off cishet vibes (which is also strange for a m/m hockey series like WHERE are the other queer characters). Judging by the (again, useless) series name, the only character getting traded I can recall from this book is Stormy, the goalie who we barely saw or interacted with. So? That’s weird. Usually you have a book setting up characters for future books but this book gives me nothing but wanting more Olly and Benji. And maybe some queer side characters at the very least. From the author’s tweet about lines from the next book, it seems like it’s about characters we haven’t met.

And regarding Olly and the Wolves. I don’t understand the threats of lawsuits and the threat of what waivers mean for Olly at all. Who is suing who? Are the Wolves threatening to sue Olly if he tells of the abuses he suffered from the coach and the players, or is league threatening to sue the Wolves if they tell? I can’t make heads or tails about it. None of that whole thing makes any sense to me. And what does the waivers thing even mean? Just no clue at all.

Another problem I had with this book is the way Krista’s, Benji’s sister, storyline plays out. Krista is trying her hardest to be an influencer and make money to support herself. She currently dating an awful hockey guy named Rob who cheats on her all the time and seems emotionally abusive (from what I gather from Benji’s perspective). She doesn’t leave Rob. Ever. Or wise up to the fact that she SHOULD. The whole storyline with Krista cutting off Benji but then only getting back on talking terms in a shallow sense is very disappointing to read about. It would’ve been nice to see Krista leave and be independent and successful in her own right, and for Benji to have his sister back again. I just felt like this subplot one this story is a huge unresolved deadweight that leaves me disappointed.

I think there are GOOD moments in this book that I really did love reading about. But there’s just too many frustrating decisions made with the book and the story points where this definitely feels like a debut and leaves me disappointed on too many fronts.

***Thanks to the publisher for providing me this ARC on NetGalley***

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: homophobia, bullying, anxiety, coming out

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/m sports romance
-roommance
-friends to lovers
-this is just a hookup
-so much pining
-opposites attract
-so much sexual tension
-I sleep better with you there

I adored this book. I've been desperate for another hockey romance and this hit that sweet spot. I'm not sure who I adored more Olly or Benji. Olly just tore my heart out, his anxiety, the slow and complete way he fell for Benji. And Benji accidentally falls in love too. They were opposites in so many ways but complimented each other. and when Benji started staying over with Benji, my heart just ugggghhh. There was a lot of screeching happening reading this book.

I loved the honest look at anxiety and therapy. Falling in love didn't fix Benji and Olly, but they opened up and trusted the other person. This book deals so well with therapy and self-care in so many ways. I adored the hockey team and how supportive they were of their teammates. I just need this to be a series because I don't want to leave this world.

Steam: 3.5

Mein Leseerlebnis

Soweit ich das überblicken kann, ist dies das erste Buch der Autorin und somit auch mein erster Berührungspunkt mit ihr. Es wird aber sicherlich nicht der letzte sein, denn das Buch hat mir sehr gut gefallen und ich plane daher auch ihren zukünftigen Romanen eine Chance zu geben.

Wer sich langsam entwickelnde Liebesromane mag, in denen die Hauptcharaktere je mit ihrem persönlichen Päckchen an Problemen zurecht kommen müssen und man sie sehr gut kennenlernt, der kann sich auf einen wirklich schönen Liebesroman freuen.

Die Charaktere, die ich fest ins Herz geschlossen habe, lernt man im Verlauf der Geschichte sehr gut kennen, was ich in Liebesromanen liebe. Ich konnte mir sowohl Olly als auch Benji sehr gut als echte Personen vorstellen.

Die Beziehung zwischen beiden entwickelt sich genau richtig und glücklicherweise wird nichts überstürzt, das hätte auch nicht zu ihnen gepasst.

Ich war beim Lesen des Buches emotional voll involviert. Ich habe gelacht, gelitten und innerlich gejubelt, alles war dabei. Das Ende des Buches hat mir ein Lächeln auf die Lippen gezaubert und mich glücklich gemacht.

Neben den Hauptcharakteren, ihren persönlichen Entwicklungen und ihrer Liebesgeschichte haben mir auch die Interaktionen innerhalb des Eishockey-Teams sehr gut gefallen. Es war schön zu sehen, wie alle füreinander da waren und wie aus ihnen eine eingeschworene Gemeinschaft wurde.

“Season’s Change” war wirklich schön und es wird hoffentlich nicht das einzige Buch der Autorin bleiben. 🖤🖤🖤🖤1/4

Für wen?

Wer intensive, sich eher langsam entwickelnde Liebesromane mag, in denen die Entwicklung der Hauptcharaktere einen wichtigen Stellenwert einnimmt, dem kann ich das Buch ans Herz legen.

Fans der Game Changers - Reihe von Rachel Reid könnte das Buch gut gefallen.

A great new hockey romance with two characters who have a lot to learn about themselves and each other. A bit of a slow burn, but full of clever observations about love and relationship.

M/M Hockey is probably my favorite sub-genre in all of romance. There has been an extremely high bar for this part of romance set by authors like Sarina Bowen and Rachel Reid - and this book definitely falls in line with those books.

Poor Olly. He has been on the receiving end of bullying from pretty much every angle of his life. From the violent and cruel treatment of his former teammates to his dad pushing him in an unhealthy way - he is really very much on the edge. When he is paired with Benji as his roommate they are a very good match. Benji is kind and thoughtful - and more open to mental health being important. He gives Olly support in ways Olly has never had them.

Olly is very much closeted due to all of his experiences. Benji is - not gay - but not straight either. He has definitely fallen more on the hetero side of bi (or pan) sexual - but his relationship with Olly definitely changes things, and complicates things.

I adored how Olly and Benji supported each other and the development of their relationship. There are no overnight realizations and the issues that come up are very much real and fully developed. Benji is definitely a great book boyfriend - and Olly is just so freaking sweet.

I loved the book - and would love to read more from this author!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Heat Factor: Centers on the emotional tension growing, not on the sex (which was so tender)
Character Chemistry: I was on tenterhooks
Plot: Olly has a lot of trauma to deal with and Benji is a little bit clueless but extremely supportive
Overall: Uff da, what a tearjerker!

Did I pick up this book because it’s a romance between a grumpy veteran hockey player and his sunshiney rookie roommate? You bet I did!

So, okay, now that I’ve read the book… Olly is 24 when the book starts and Benji is 20. This isn’t, like, a 19yo rookie rooming with a 34yo veteran. I confess I was expecting a few silver whiskers, but for the emotional space these characters were occupying, early twenties is really spot on. And also, I’m not sure that grumpy/sunshine quite fits the bill here. Benji is very chill and positive, and Olly is a prickle-ball, but, like, these guys - Olly in particular - are dealing with stuff that makes grumpy/sunshine seem like floating tufts of cotton candy.

This book is like if you took Game Changer and Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid and mashed them together, reduced the sex by about 70%, and added a heaping helping of traumatic life experiences. Or I think another book that hits some similar notes is The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen.

Olly is coping with a perfectionist outlook combined with his father’s parenting-coaching style that is more critiquing than supportive, plus he’s gay but closeted and his former roommate punched him in the face and he was kicked off his old team when he was outed there. His mental health challenges are legion, and he is extremely resistant to doing anything about them because “he should be tough enough” (thanks, Dad). I really liked that, at the end of the day, Olly does the work to take care of himself. He is supported in this by several people along the way, which is really important, but he’s the one who finds a therapist and decides he needs to make different choices if he wants to not be an emaciated ball curled up on his lake cabin bed, hiding from the entire world. C.W. Olly’s anxiety is so bad he regularly vomits when faced with bad stressors.

Benji comes from poverty and an abusive (primarily through emotional manipulation and abuse) mother, and he’s had to humbly take every opportunity ever offered to him. Because of his early years, he has a lot of anger, but thanks to his supportive hockey billeting families, he did get the help and therapy he needed to manage his anger, so even though I wouldn’t term him a walking ball of sunshine, he does very intentionally have a positive life outlook. I got a bit of a bi-erasure vibe for a while with Benji’s story, which is essentially a bi-awakening story. Specifically Olly (and eventually Benji) identify that Benji isn’t gay … so of course he must be straight. I would have enjoyed this more if the questions or points of insecurity were framed by the narrator (3rd person) in a more bi-acknowledging manner. Though, to be fair, Benji’s obliviousness and easy comfort with his sexuality is meant to be diametrically opposed to Olly’s fear, so the opacity of Benji’s thoughts there is meaningful.

This is not a particularly easy book to read. The tension stems from a huge amount of emotional angst and not from natural situational tension (I mean, a little bit) or the protagonists not knowing how to be vulnerable to each other (also this is certainly present). That said, I 100% Bad Decisions Book Clubbed this puppy and read 70% of it in one evening. (Night, okay? Way too late.) It was riveting. Carina adds the word count to the front of their ARCs and I was like, “100,000 words! Eek!” But honestly I did not feel this book getting slow or saggy at all. It’s a very slow burn, yes, absolutely. But there’s always something making me turn the page.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

While not my favorite hockey romance, this was pretty good. It was definitely slower burn and interesting reading these two povs, with Olly very aware of how he feels and Benji pretty clueless.

Gotta love an MM sports romance!

I was really excited for this one, it was MM, it had hockey, it had friends-to-lovers, all the good stuff! But, unfortunately it just wasn't for me, it was really slow and I wasn't a fan of the story and the word "buddy" and "bud" was used WAY too much.

It did have a lot of hockey games though! I found that interesting since the romance didn't seem to be the main focus in this book, the hockey games were the highlight. I also like how there was commentary on mental health and the importance of that!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the earc in return for an honest review.